U.S. Immigration Guide: Florida is rich and colorful; you can walk into the Everglades National Park while under the scorching sun of Miami; its 13,500-kilometer coastline has nurtured countless distinct beaches; generations of residents and successive waves of immigrants have blended together to create countless unique cultural wonders. Oh, and there are those uniquely-looking wild animals, which are also part of the 12 flavors to follow:
Beaches
Perhaps a fleeting glance might only reveal unchanging beaches, but the reality is like the egg in Da Vinci's sketches: every beach has a different story. The sand grains at Daytona Beach are fine and tightly packed, forming a beach thick enough to drive on; underground riverbeds have brought golden sands polished by algae and coral; the northwestern beaches, often called sugar-colored, are actually composed of 100% quartz; and fossils that have undergone millions of years of baptism have evolved into black sand at Venice Beach. Every beach has its own merits; the key is how to discover them.
Mermaids
The best gifts are often unexpected, such as manatees. Known as "mermaids," they are gentle and elegant, with a stout and adorable body weighing up to 450 kilograms, and they can hold their breath underwater for over 20 minutes. Every year from November to April of the following year, over 200,000 visitors come to the TECO Manatee Viewing Center at Apollo Beach to have an intimate encounter with the manatees. For 27 years, countless visitors have enjoyed "a day in the life of a manatee" here: splashing, rolling, eating, and resting. Of course, there are many other places in Florida where you can see manatees, such as Blue Spring State Park in Orange County. It is important to note that the park strictly prohibits touching or feeding the manatees; they are to be "admired from a distance, not played with."
Names
Undoubtedly, Florida produces all kinds of strange names, but behind every name lies an interesting history:
BOCA RATON - In the early days, this place was called "Boca de Ratones", which means "rat's mouth" in Spanish. The sharp rocks near the harbor often caused ships to run aground and sink.
YEEHAW - It has nothing to do with cowboys; Yeehaw comes from the Muskogee word for "wolf."
ZELLWOOD - This small town is famous for its sweet corn, and the city's name comes from Col. T. Elwood Zell, an authority who published a 2,200-page encyclopedia in 1876.
PASS-A-GRILLE - This interesting name actually comes from the French "passe aux grilleurs", meaning that fishermen would stop here to cook the seafood they had caught.
Indigenous People
Seminole is a household name throughout Florida: Seminole County, the City of Seminole, and even team mascots are called Seminole, all to commemorate the earliest inhabitants of this hot land, the Seminole Tribe of Florida. The $65 million Seminole Everglades Restoration Initiative project aims to preserve the living environment of these indigenous people as much as possible, improve water quality, and provide better flood control facilities for the entire region. After all, continuing a nation's tradition is not limited to the past and present; creating a better environment for future generations is the top priority.
Key West
This "ever-youthful" old town is as charming as ever. Wooden houses are lined up side by side, and the morning crowing of roosters awakens the vitality of the day. Want to know what the magic of the "southernmost point of the continental United States" is? Artist Ray Rolston tells us that "everything here is within walking distance." So while strolling, you might as well imagine yourself in another paradise. Coincidentally, this is exactly how the locals spend every day here: morning swimming not only exercises the body but also lays the foundation for the day's vitality; the nap after lunch belongs to free diving; when dusk arrives, crowds gather at Mallory Square to enjoy the magnificent sunset; the night dancing is always intoxicating, and people are reluctant to leave for a long time. Another great charm of Key West lies in its inclusive spirit: people of all skin colors, beliefs, and cultures—white, black, Latino, Asian, etc.—blend together, trusting and loving each other. You can never predict whether you will run into a die-hard fan of 60s rock or a trendy pop art street performer in the next second.
In Key West, everything is equal, and everything is worth celebrating.
Alligators
No one knows these Florida reptilian monsters better than the staff at Gatorland. Built in 1949, this family-operated alligator theme park is located in central Florida and welcomes countless alligator fans every year. In a chat with staff member Tim Williams from the "Gator Wrestlin’ Show," we have listed the following points for you:
1. Columbus was the first to name these reptiles, "el lagarto", which means "lizard" in Spanish, and it eventually evolved into "alligator".
2. Alligators constantly grow new teeth throughout their lives, with a total of 82 teeth.
3. According to data from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), all aircraft in the United States collide with an average of 1 alligator on the runway each year.
4. Alligators have the most lethal bite force in the animal kingdom, strong enough to penetrate a car.
5. Despite the powerful biting muscles of the lower jaw, the muscles used to open the jaw are very weak, which explains why staff on the National Geographic Channel can seal their gaping mouths with just a roll of duct tape.
6. Florida is home to the world's largest population of alligators, about 1.25 million. No concept of that? On average, there is a reptilian neighbor living within the vicinity of every 15 people!
Theme Parks
Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando was born on October 1, 1971. At that time, Phil Holmes was just a 19-year-old naive boy. His job was to check tickets on the bridge leading to the "Haunted Mansion" in Magic Kingdom every day. Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color on Sunday nights was the moment Holmes looked forward to most every week, and he never missed one. Looking back on his first day of work, "I had no premonition other than that everything would get better," he still firmly believes this today. It's just that times have changed; today's Holmes is no longer that ordinary boy, he is the Vice President of Magic Kingdom Theme Park at Walt Disney World Resort, and this magic will continue.
Water
You must have never imagined that Florida was a grassland thousands of years ago. Melting glaciers from Georgia and Alabama formed the unique landscape of the Everglades and Big Cypress Preserve, and injected fresh water below 21.1℃ into as many as 300 underground springs. Thousands of years of rainwater penetrated the limestone on the ground, forming kaleidoscope-like inland lakes. The plant-covered Gulf of Mexico seabed provided a natural cradle for oysters and stone crabs. On the other hand, the rich marine resources also attracted ospreys, herons, and other Florida birds.
Immigration
Like a magnet, Florida attracts immigrants from every corner of the world. Why does the Sunshine State attract so many immigrants to flock here? "There are many reasons," says Saundra Amrhein, author of a book on immigration. "They come to realize their dreams, contributing their strength to agriculture, construction, tourism, and healthcare. They are keen on investing, purchasing real estate, and settling down. More importantly, they long to write their own poems in such a melting pot of nations."
The Everglades
It can be said that The Everglades National Park is the place in the entire state of Florida that has witnessed the most changes. Few people have personally explored this place like the author of Michael Grunwald. He said this about the beloved wetlands: "The Everglades is the last undeveloped area in the United States, and the stories about pioneering are always so exciting. In this mysterious and vast wild land, all elements aggregate into huge economic benefits. More and more people have begun to realize that the Everglades is not just a place to enjoy the scenery; the wetland form it belongs to protects our drinking water resources, neutralizes flood currents, and provides habitats for wild animals. What is even more amazing is that this wild land is so close to our urban belt. Every year, there are thousands of animal control calls claiming that alligators have visited their backyards. We should ask ourselves: haven't we invaded the alligator's backyard?"
Space Exploration
Will space travel continue? Can children continue their space dreams? Like many industries, although space exploration is currently undergoing a transitional phase, this all indicates that this industry will rise again in the future rather than end. So children, please continue your fantasies about chasing the moon; in the future, space exploration will be more closely integrated with our lives.
"Many people don't actually understand what happened," says Mark Smith, a staff member at Florida's Kennedy Space Center. "People think that space exploration has come to an end since the landing of Atlantis, but that is not the case. Today we are more focused on the future direction. Kennedy Space Center is transforming into a dual-use space base for government and commercial purposes, and NASA is also actively preparing for a brand-new space flight program." Perhaps only time can tell us the next story, but what is certain is that just as the mysterious outer space has no end, the human dream of exploring the universe will also continue.
Sunshine
Famous poet Peter Meinke, from St. Petersburg, the city with the most sunny days per year in the Sunshine State, describes the invincible sunshine of his hometown in the poem "Lassing Park":
When the thick fog of night dissipates, and shadows leave the horizon
The rising sun over Tampa Bay brings the first ray of sunshine
We are grateful for God's favor and thank nature for its gifts